I met a couple of guys from the UK up on Pikes Peak this year, Gary from
Sideburn Magazine and a photographer that came along with Gary to document the event and Guy Martin's attempt to conquer the mountain.
That photographer is
Sam Christmas. Sam has an eye for casual settings to take photos at... PPIHC is NOT casual... But in his eyes he was able to take the event and make it seem like a casual ride up a mountain with some buddies, even when our buddies don't make it to the top...
This post below from Sam is a look into how others handle losing a competitor, friend, and fellow racer... Every photo is a story of the moments after Bobby Goodin took the checkered flag, lost control of his bike, and is now racing in the heavens on a most perfect racetrack where tires and race fuel are free and there are no entry fees.
It was good to meet you Mr. Goodin, Godspeed sir.
Today Sam sent me a few pics I would like to share of my time up on Pikes Peak. I will let you enjoy them below and please go take a look at his website and blogs here:
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| PPIHC is truly an international event, #50 is Takahiro Itami from Japan on an MV Agusta F3. |
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| When Cal Collins could get his bike started in the cold this kid RIPPED! One of the many waits to come back down the mountain resulted in lots of Great conversations! |
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| Yes, that is Guy Martin. Yes, he is good peoples and a character. I am very happy to have met and actually help him out while they were on their adventure over here. I think we were talking about mapping issues with his bike here... |
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| Here I am rolling through a corner during qualifying, look at all those rocks on the road! YIKES! |
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| Last left hander of the qualifying section from Friday's session. |
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| Good times with these two Scottish guys! On the left is Joe Toner and on the bike next to me my buddy Alan Cunningham. We were listening to Joe talking about roadracing back in the day against the likes of Joey Dunlop! Joe RIPS! |
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| Newbold... That is the bearded lady to my left... Err, handsome bearded man I mean! ;) Travis told Gary, Sam, Carl, and myself we have to go stand at the guardrail to the last hairpin named Olympic and watch the cars... Great decision!!! |
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| Newbold ready to roll up the mountain in style chatting with my buddy Carl Sorenson and myself with my sister in-law Erica Bibeau in the background. Did I mention it wasn't freaking warm at all? ;) |
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| This shot is one of my all time favorites, it really encapsulates the entire feeling of this race. We made it to the top, we parked our bikes against some random rocks, and we spent the next 8 hours above 14,000 feet feeling loopy and enjoying everyone's stories about the quick ride up! |
With that I am still set back by the enormity of the event, from start to finish the race just kept us guessing and we never knew exactly how it was gonna end up.
HUGE Thanks to everyone that made this event a possibility for me, I can't wait to go back next year and give her a go again!
Cheers!
